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Page 29
ing her with a husband who would know how to use her abed and abroad. She is a little hot at handerI have been told. Perhaps she would need a little taming. How would that sit with you, Fulk? Or you, Henry? Are either of you man enough to take such a task in hand?"
"You would do better," Salisbury said desperately, "to take a rich fine from her and leave her to her own devices. Every pound you gain will lessen the toll you must ask for from the kingdom at large. Any husband you choose will very soon bethink him that the lady's gold would go into his purse if it did not go into yours."
John looked at his brother, and for a moment the cruel mouth softened, and the hungry eyes grew milder. "You always see the best way for me, William. That was a shrewd reminder. Yes, indeed." He laughed uproariously. "I will offer the lady her choice, and when she has made it, she shall pay richly for the privilege. And you," his eyes swept the table, "my dear and loving friends, will be able to place no blame upon me. It will be the lady's choice, not mine, that makes one man master of her estates."
That was not what Salisbury meant, but it was better than having John commit himself to any one man. Several would doubtless offer some bribe to get their names into the letter to Alinor. Doubtless John would wait a day or two to be sure that the bidding had ended. Then the letter must be written and sent. If John should fall into one of his periodic bouts of lethargy, and that was rather likely because he had been showing the signs Salisbury recognized of the onset of such a period, it might be weeks before he moved in the matter.
The fluctuations between periods of great energy and periods of total indolence that John suffered had been a puzzle to Salisburyand to anyone else who knew the kingfor many years. For weeks or months at a time, John would be busy every moment, riding from castle to castle, paying strict attention to the affairs of the kingdom, sitting in justice himself, and prosecuting every

 
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